Take action today to urge Congress to ensure the Navy keeps its jet fuel out of our taps

Bad news. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has detected carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in its ʻAiea wells for the very first time, with some PAH types at levels far exceeding minimum reporting thresholds. With the Red Hill Facility as the most plausible source for this detection, it is likely that our fears may have been confirmed: contamination plumes from the Red Hill Facility may be moving in unpredictable ways, and could threaten or even poison more and more wells and springs in the years and decades to come. 

Most immediately, the Kaʻamilo well, which serves the ʻAiea area, may soon need to be shut down to avoid contaminating the drinking water system for thousands of families and businesses. Area springs that serve farms and cultural practices may also be at risk. The Board of Water Supply must now focus on finding additional sources to serve ‘Aiea neighborhoods if and when its Kaʻamilo well can no longer be safely used.

Over time, similar situations may arise in other places, as more once-pure areas of our aquifer become contaminated by migrating plumes.   

The stakes are high. Even a small fraction of the nearly two million gallons of fuel potentially released from the Red Hill Facility over the past 80 years could have catastrophic impacts on public health, cultural practices, agriculture, environmental justice, and the economy if it contaminates municipal wells or reaches area springs.

Immediate action is essential to prevent or mitigate these impacts. The Board of Water Supply is urging the Navy to immediately enhance its monitoring protocols and testing frequencies, install more monitoring wells as quickly as possible, and complete groundwater and contaminant fate and transport models that it promised to develop nearly 10 years ago. Without these actions, we will have no idea what wells may be next at risk, and no way to even start the process of remediating and restoring our ʻāina and wai.

Unfortunately, there is growing concern that the Navy may not be responding to this crisis with the urgency it demands. Initial discussions suggest the Navy might be more focused on disputing the Red Hill Facility as the source of the PAH detected in ʻAiea, rather than proactively enhancing its groundwater monitoring and modeling efforts. Immediate and sustained public and political pressure is needed to protect our water and our communities from the decades and generations to come.  

Earlier this month, the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative sent a letter to Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation urging them to ensure that the US Navy and Department of Defense take immediate action to ensure the fuel released from the Red Hill facility does not harm even more lives than it already has.

Join the Community Representation Initiative’s urgent call for action by contacting your congressional representatives today, asking them to urge the US Navy to heed the Board of Water Supply’s call to  better understand the groundwater contamination underlying Kapūkakī before it’s too late.